Strong is beautiful, too.

Thin is beautiful, too. Fat is beautiful, too. Or curvy, if you prefer. Thin is beautiful, too. Tall is beautiful, and short is beautiful, and stout is beautiful, and hairy is beautiful, and “conventionally” ugly is beautiful, too. We’re all good, if our hearts are good.

Girls can’t surf! …uh, Nevermind.

Surfing is beautiful. It’s also tough as hell. Same with these athletes.

Their beauty is full of strength. Obviously, male surfers show a lot of skin, too. In any case, check the videos–these are sexy, inspiring, literally awesome women.

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“…Her name is Claire Bevilacqua, born January 29, 1983, nickname “Bevo”. She’s a professional surfer from Perth, Australia. Her mother is Australian while her father is Italian. In 2003 she was crowned as the Australian Junior Women’s Champion. In 2005 she joined the World Championship Tour (WCT) of the Association of Surfing Professionals, finishing with a 10th ranking. Since turning pro she has won several competitions…”

90% of the comments online about these photos and videos are “wow.” But, a few are concerned about their sexuality. In response to a reader’s question:

Amen. I left out most of their overtly sexualized photos–and there’s a lot of those. Look at my ass! Look at my boobs! No: the photos I included were those that I thought showed their strength, skill, and, yes, their human beauty. They are in really good shape, and that’s inspiring and beautiful. For that matter, the gents are sexy, too, and show even more skin, often. Nothing wrong with beauty, as long as it’s not pinup stuff.

Check the videos, these women are inspiring, and have got the skills, as you say.

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Love this video, love this song, love this.

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Alana Blanchard.

Below: Bethany lost an arm to a shark. She came back, and is competing again.

Many of the pics portray these amazing female athletes as objects of sexual interest rather than focusing on their athletic ability. This is a really belittling culture that female athletes have to battle constantly making it very difficult for them to get recognition without being sexualised. This culture has been shown to alienate women from sport and lead to the already rife problem of poor body image amongst females of all ages. It would be great if we could celebrate these amazing women without the implied sexual expectation or connotation.

What I find disappointing is all the negativity following this post in the comments. I 100% agree that the photos are appropriate and show strong (inside and out) women who embrace the earth and ride the waves. It's a lifestyle and it's free living. I can assure you they don't only wear bikinis for these photos, so passing judgment on them being sexualized is judging them. They have pride in what they do and who they are, with good reason. All that being said (by me, a straight female), I thoroughly enjoyed this post. Thank you for empowering the strength of these and all women.